THE OPPOSITION

Adrian Clarke: “Tactically Riyad Mahrez gives City something new and, if he plays, Ainsley Maitland-Niles must concentrate hard to stop him. The key with Mahrez is to watch the ball and stay on your feet. If you take your eye off the ball he will fire a shot or a cross away.

"This match will be a good chance to put Arsenal’s pressing tactics into action. The champions are brilliant at playing their way out from the back but they do occasionally lose the ball in bad areas. When this happens I believe Arsenal have the quality up front to be decisive from counters and transitions.”

Michael Cox: “The arrival of Mahrez was greeted with surprise in some quarters, but City’s squad last season only featured four genuine attackers, in a system that demanded three. Adding a fifth option alongside Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane, Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus is hardly overkill, although it remains to be seen quite how Guardiola will accommodate Mahrez.

"Previously, he’s ordered Sterling and Sane to remain wide and stretch the play rather than drifting inside, as Mahrez prefers, and this suggests Guardiola has a tactical tweak planned. Sterling might be fielded more regularly in a false nine position, where he excelled away at Old Trafford last season.”

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